Elevator for cotton



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

E. PRICE, OF WATERPROOF, LOUISIANA.

ELEVATOR FOR COTTON, SUGAR-CANE, &C.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 14,927, dated May 20, 1856.

T0 all /w/zom t may concern Be it known that I, E. PRICE, of Taterproof, in the parish of Tensas and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tables and ElevatinglCarriers Combined for Elevating Cotton into Gin-Houses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, the same forming part of this specification.

The nature of my improvement consists in constructing a table or scaffolding at the required distance from the building, and of a sufficient height so that when carts or similar vehicles are backed against the table, the cotton contained in them may be rolled out or discharged upon it.

The table is so constructed at its edges as to be accessible at all points. The carrier employed for elevating the cotton into the gin house is made from ninety to one hundred and ten feet long, and about twenty feet, more or less of the lower end is made to run horizontally, and the table before mentioned is built. on each side and at the end of the carrier. The upper edge of the carrier frame is made to come flush with the top of the table, and the carrier moves some fifteen or twenty inches below it, upon which the cotton is rolled when it is required to elevate it into the gin house. The upper end of the carrier is inclined sufficiently to elevate the cotton to the required height, it being generally taken to the top floor of the building.

The method employed heretofore for taking the cotton up into the gin house has been by carrying it up in baskets when sufficiently dry, by stairways. In some cases inclined planes are constructed, upon which the cotton is laid when brought from the fields, and when dry is conveyed by manual labor, upon this inclined plane into the gin house. My improvement dispenses with about nine tenths of this labor by building the table and combining the carrier with it for taking up the cotton, which can be worked by the same power which runs the cotton gin or by horse power. All the manual labor required in this case being very trifiing compared with all former plans.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improvement I will proceed to describe'its construction and operation by referring to the accompanying drawings.

Figure l, is a side elevation of the table and carrier. The upper end of the carrier is supposed to be on the inside and near the top of the building. Fig. 2 is a top view of the table and carrier.

3 represents the side pieces of the carrier which can be made of any depth and sufficiently wide apart to suit the amount of cotton required to be elevated.

4 is a drum at the top of the carrier, placed on a shaft and made to revolve in the frame l2, 12by applying power to the pulley 13 on the end of the shaft, which draws the carrier (it being composed of the ccrds 10, 10, and slats 9, 9, 9, 9) in the direction denoted by the darts, and the lower end of the carrier is made to revolve around the drum 5 which is fitted into a proper frame work. The cotton is raked from the table 11, 11, on to the carrier which is set in motion as before described and elevates the cotton to the required height.

6, 6, are friction rollers placed on the lower part of the carrier frame, to render its motion as easy as possible, and 7 is a friction roller for preventing the carrier from swagging on the ground and also to allow room enough under the carrier for the passage of carts, &c.

lll, 14, are rollers placed on each side, and on the inside of the frame, at the point where the carrier rises, for the purpose of keeping the carrier down, but in practice the cotton by its own weight may be found sufficient to keep the carrier in a horizontal position until it arrives at the proper point to be elevated.

15 is a double line which is supposed to be the side of the building, showing the manner employed of entering the carrier. Generally the carrier will be taken into the very top of the building so as to have as much room as possible bet-Ween the end of the carrier and the floor in order to deposit a large amount of cotton on the floor before it becomes necessary to remove it.

In constructing the carrier for practice the cords 10, 10, will be made of chain generally, and lprovided with slats, and to make its motion more certain the upper drum or flange 4 will be provided with teeth or projections on its circumference, that will catch in between the ends of the links, and thereby draw it around.

The pulley and shaft 8 are supposed to be a counter shaft, and will be provided with a belt that will drive the drum 4, by running around the pulley 13 on the end of the shaft.

Taking the carrier alone, without the table, there have been similar mechanical means employed for elevating different materials before used, but constructing the table as before described, so that the cotton can be taken from the carts on to the table and into the carrier from the table and elevated into the gin house, possesses a distinct E. PRICE.

Witnesses MARTIN BENSON,

L. W. SMITH. 

